Given that he’s responsible for such films as Insomnia, the Dark Knight trilogy, and now Oppenheimer — the J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic that has no qualms about being densely depressing — one wouldn’t peg Christopher Nolan to name one of the most beloved comedies of the last few decades as one of his personal must-watches.
In a recent interview with The Rich Eisen Show, Nolan was questioned on the movies that never fail to grab his attention whenever they pop up on television, and, following his expected response of Stanley Kubrick’s entire filmography, the director paired that answer with Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the 2006 Will Ferrell sports film that Nolan called “one of the great comedies.”
I mean, god, anything by [Stanley] Kubrick, you know? It’s a remote drop. And some of the great comedies too, I mean Talladega Nights, I’m never gonna be able to switch that up.
So, in case you somehow found yourself wondering what Nolan’s favorite Will Ferrell movie is, look no further. Perhaps the initial dissonance of this state of affairs will frighten you, but be not like the baby chipmunk, dear reader.
As for the rest of the world’s must-watches, we’d be deeply remiss to leave Oppenheimer out of that conversation; indeed, with a $650 million gross from just a $100 million budget (an impressive feat for any movie, let along a brooding, three-hour long biographical drama), it doesn’t look like folks will stop lining up for Nolan’s magnum opus any time soon. And given that the film’s ever-important subject matter is all bite with something much more sinister than a bark, here’s hoping audiences keep drinking in Oppenheimer for the months to come.
Oppenheimer is now playing in theaters.